President Obama / Chang W. Lee/The New York Times, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama is honoring the Supreme Court decision that in some ways made his election possible.

"Brown v. Board of Education shifted the legal and moral compass of our Nation," Obama said in a presidential resolution on the 1954 ruling.

Saturday marks the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the ruling that struck down school segregation and marked a major turning point in the civil rights movement.

Obama noted that, a decade after the ruling, "Brown's moral guidance was translated into the enforcement measures of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act."

Yet, in an era where some de facto segregation remains, Obama said "the hope and promise of Brown remains unfulfilled" in education.

"We must continue striving toward equal opportunities for all our children, from access to advanced classes to participation in the same extracurricular activities," Obama wrote. "Because when children learn and play together, they grow, build, and thrive together."

First lady Michelle Obama is expected to discuss the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education on Friday when she addresses the graduating seniors of Topeka Unified School District 501 in Kansas.

Topeka is the where the Brown case originated.

In his proclamation, Obama reminded Americans that "progress has never come easily -- but even in the face of impossible odds, those who love their country can change it."